Tom
Administrator
- Joined
- Jan 13, 2005
- Posts
- 52,213
The boss let me off the hook. Actually, I started looking busy and she said "I thought you were going fishing". That was my cue. Came in for lunch, but here's the preliminary report on the lead core fly line.
The lead core line has a smaller diameter than a typical trolling line, but it's still heavy compared to the main fly line. I wasn't sure how best to tie this stuff to the main line or to the monofilament line. I first tried a small shrink tube made for the job and, while it grabbed the plasic outer sheath of the lead core, it didn't want to hang onto the regular fly line. So I opted for a crude knot, similar to what would normally be used to attach monfilament to a hook (aka a blood knot).
This lead core is really meant as a weighted leader, performing the same function as a sink-tip fly line, but sinking at a much faster rate, thanks to the lead core. Choosing the length is a bit of hit and miss. I bought a 30 foot length and decided I'd try 12 feet first. If that wasn't enough, I'd still have an 18 foot length left.
Casting isn't quite as elegant as casting a #18 fly to a shy trout, and it's more like heaving a wet tow line to a distant boat or to shore. The 6/7 weight rod I was using, although fine for normal sink tips lines in these delta waters, really needs to be 9 weight to have the muscle to cast this heavy line. Do they make 9 weight fly rods? Picking it up once it's started sinking is almost impossible. Heck, this is a lot different from a 3 weight rod I use for casting small trout flies.
The lead core definitely takes that lure down in a hurry. However, since the line isn't color marked, I don't really know how deep it's going.
I'm off to experiment a little more before declaring myself an expert ;D
The lead core line has a smaller diameter than a typical trolling line, but it's still heavy compared to the main fly line. I wasn't sure how best to tie this stuff to the main line or to the monofilament line. I first tried a small shrink tube made for the job and, while it grabbed the plasic outer sheath of the lead core, it didn't want to hang onto the regular fly line. So I opted for a crude knot, similar to what would normally be used to attach monfilament to a hook (aka a blood knot).
This lead core is really meant as a weighted leader, performing the same function as a sink-tip fly line, but sinking at a much faster rate, thanks to the lead core. Choosing the length is a bit of hit and miss. I bought a 30 foot length and decided I'd try 12 feet first. If that wasn't enough, I'd still have an 18 foot length left.
Casting isn't quite as elegant as casting a #18 fly to a shy trout, and it's more like heaving a wet tow line to a distant boat or to shore. The 6/7 weight rod I was using, although fine for normal sink tips lines in these delta waters, really needs to be 9 weight to have the muscle to cast this heavy line. Do they make 9 weight fly rods? Picking it up once it's started sinking is almost impossible. Heck, this is a lot different from a 3 weight rod I use for casting small trout flies.
The lead core definitely takes that lure down in a hurry. However, since the line isn't color marked, I don't really know how deep it's going.
I'm off to experiment a little more before declaring myself an expert ;D